Switching Into Unmarried Partner Visa (10 Years Route)

Written by Arshad Mahmood

If you are in the UK and you are an unmarried partner of a British Citizen or a settled person, you can apply for switching into unmarried partner visa under the 10 years route if you cannot meet all the requirements of the Appendix FM for leave to remain as unmarried partner under the 5 years route. Application for leave to remain as unmarried partner under 10 years route is usually made by those applicants who cannot meet the financial requirement, immigration status requirement or English language requirement. An application for switching into unmarried partner visa under the 10 years route is made using application form FLR (FP).

An unmarried partner means a person who has been living with the applicant in a relationship akin to a marriage for at least two years prior to the date of application.

To succeed in an application for switching into unmarried partner visa under the 10 years route, the applicant must meet the requirement of EX1 of Appendix FM under the Immigration Rules. The requirement of EX1 can be satisfied by showing that either:

the applicant has a parental relationship with a child under 18 who is in the UK and who is:

British Citizen; or

holding ILR; or

has lived in the UK continuously for 7 years; and

it is unreasonable to expect such child to leave the UK.

OR

the applicant has a genuine and subsisting relationship with the UK unmarried partner who is a British Citizen, settled in the UK or in the UK with refugee leave or humanitarian protection, and there are insurmountable obstacles to family life with that partner continuing outside the UK. Insurmountable obstacles mean the very significant difficulties which would be faced by the applicant or their partner in continuing their family life together outside the UK and which could not be overcome or would entail very serious hardship for the applicant or their partner.

If your application for switching into unmarried partner visa under the 10 years route is successful, you will be granted leave to remain in the UK for 30 months. Any time during the validity of leave to remain as unmarried partner under 10 years route, the applicant can switch into unmarried partner visa under the 5 years route so that he can qualify for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) after spending 5 years on unmarried partner visa rather than 10 years under the unmarried partner visa. It is always better to make such application for switching from 10 years route to 5 years route as early as possible so that the qualifying time for ILR under the 5 years route can start as soon as you have switched into 5 years route. We can provide same day visa service for switching from 10 years route to 5 years route.

Same Day Visa Service For FLR (FP) Application

We are registered with the Home Office, Premium Service Centre, Croydon to provide same day visa service for an application for switching into unmarried partner visa as an unmarried partner of a British Citizen or a person present and settled in the UK i.e. FLR (FP) application. We can prepare and submit your FLR (FP) application to the Home Office, PEO, Croydon and get quick decision on your application. As FLR (FP) application involves an application for biometric immigration document, therefore you will have to attend the Home Office, PEO, Croydon along with our legal representatives for your biometrics and submission of your application. Our legal representative will accompany you to the Home Office, Public Enquiry Office (PEO) and assist you with the enrolment of your biometrics and submission of your application. The application submitted through our same day visa service is generally decided same day.

The immigration solicitors at Sunrise Solicitors are experts in dealing with application for switching into unmarried partner visa as an unmarried partner of a person present and settled in the UK. The quality of our service is self-evident from the clients' reviews about the service provided by our immigration lawyers. You can contact us if you are seeking legal help from immigration lawyers in London in relation to your FLR (FP) application and our immigration solicitors will provide you fast, friendly, reliable, honest and professional immigration service.

If instructed to represent you for your application to switch into unmarried partner visa, the immigration casework to be carried out by our immigration solicitors will include the following:

Taking detailed instructions from you and advising you about the relevant immigration laws and procedures to be adopted by the Home Office, UKVI in your unmarried partner visa application;

Discussing your immigration case in detail with you and advising you about the weaknesses and strengths of your unmarried partner visa application;

Advising you about the documentary evidence to be submitted in support of your unmarried partner visa application;

Checking the relevant documentary evidence to be submitted in support of the unmarried partner visa application and discussing the same with you;

Completing FLR (FP) form for unmarried partner visa application and discussing the same with you;

Preparing a cover letter to introduce and support the application for switching into unmarried partner visa.

Submitting your FLR (FP) application through our Same Day Visa Service to get decision on your application in one day;

Liaising with the Home Office, UKVI for a timely decision on your application for switching into unmarried partner visa;

Protecting your interests while your unmarried partner visa application is pending with the Home Office, UKVI and keeping you informed about the progress on your unmarried partner visa application;

Doing all the follow up work until decision is reached on your application for switching into unmarried partner visa.

Our Fee For An Application For Switching Into Unmarried Partner Visa (10 Years Route)

We will charge you a fee from £1,200 + VAT for our professional immigration services in relation to your application to switch into unmarried partner visa category where you meet EX1 requirement on the basis of parental relationship with a child. The agreed fee will depend on the complexity of the matter and the casework involved in the matter.

We will charge you a fee from £1,500 + VAT for our professional immigration services in relation to your application to switch into unmarried partner visa category where you meet EX1 requirement on the basis of insurmountable obstacles. The agreed fee will depend on the complexity of the matter and the casework involved in the matter.

If you cannot afford to pay our fee in full at the time of instructing us in relation to your unmarried partner visa application, you can pay half of the fee at the time of instructing us and the balance can be paid by monthly instalments.

The agreed fee will cover all our work until decision by the Home Office on the application. However, it is pertinent to note that the agreed fee will not cover any disbursements to be incurred by us on your behalf e.g. translation of documents, UKVI fee for the unmarried partner visa application, Immigration Healthcare Surcharge (IHS), etc.